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Celiac Disease Associated with Asthma Risk

Tina Turbin

Tina Turbin is a world-renowned Celiac advocate who researches, writes, and consults about the benefits of the gluten-free, paleo-ish, low carb and keto diets, and is a full time recipe developer and founder of PaleOmazing.com. Tina also founded and manages the popular website, GlutenFreeHelp.info, voted the #2 .info website in the world. Tina believes that celiacs need to be educated to be able to make informed decisions and that Paleo needs to be tailored to the individualâs physiology to obtain desired results. You can reach her at: INFO@PaleOmazing.com.

Celiac.com 05/20/2011 - Over the years, researchers have been discovering more and more about
celiac disease, an autoimmune disease which is caused by gluten, a
protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Studies have linked the
disease to a variety of other medical conditions, such as irritable
bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis. Researchers have
now found a connection between celiac disease and asthma.

Asthma is chronic lung disease that causes the passages of the lungs
to become inflamed and narrowed, resulting in wheezing, shortness of
breath, tightness in the chest area, and coughing. It often begins in
childhood, and according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human
services, more than 22 million people suffer from the condition. Many
studies have linked asthma to airborne allergens, but doctors have begun
to look into food culprits as well. One such study shows a connection
to celiac disease, which isn’t an allergy but rather an
autoimmune response to gluten.

In a study published in
the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, European researchers
found that celiac individuals were 60 percent more likely to develop
asthma than those without the condition. Celiac disease affects
approximately one percent of the population and without treatment, which
is a gluten-free diet, can cause a variety of physical and mental
symptoms including chronic fatigue, headaches, malnutrition, chronic
headaches, and stomach problems.

Dr. Jonas Ludvigsson of
Orebro University Hospital and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and
his colleagues compared more than 28,000 Swedish celiac patients to

more
than 140,000 similar people without the disease. The study concluded
that only a link between the two could be demonstrated, not that one
condition causes the other; the researchers weren’t able to
identify the reason for the association.

One possible
factor may be Vitamin D. According to Reuters Health, Dr. Ludvigsson
said in an email, "Personally, I think the role of vitamin D deficiency
should be stressed." Vitamin D has been demonstrated to be a factor in
the development of tuberculosis and osteoporosis, both of which celiacs
are more likely to develop. In celiac disease, gluten causes an
autoimmune reaction that causes the immune system to attack the small
intestine, specifically the villi, the finger-like structures that
absorb the nutrients from food; thus celiac patients usually exhibit
deficiencies in vitamins and minerals. If a celiac patient
isn’t getting enough vitamin D into their system, according to
Dr. Ludvigsson, the risk for asthma disease may be increased.

According to Dr. Ludviggson, Swedish celiac patients adhere well to
the gluten-free diet. The study didn’t determine how closely
the 28,000 subjects were sticking to their diets, but Ludviggson told
Reuters health, "Generally dietary compliance is high in Sweden, so I
actually believe that also patients with good adherence are at increased
risk of asthma.”

It is recommended that
people who suspect they may have celiac disease or asthma should consult
with a qualified medical practitioner for testing, diagnosis, and
treatment.

3 Responses:

Those who have Celiac Disease usually find that they have lactose intolerance; those of us with gluten intolerance, many of us discover we have a casein or a whey allergy, meaning we need to stay away from any and all cow milk/products (which should be the same for Celiac people; just because you can take a pill to help your gut deal with neutralizing the lactose in cow's milk doesn't mean that drinking milk or eating milk products is still good for your body).

I have been off eating cow milk/products for almost two years now. As of April 2010, I went off using my Advair medication for asthma (the lowest dose/the purple container).

Since I have quit eating and drinking cow milk products, I no longer have asthma. It has been found that for certain individuals, their bodies are unable to process/use cow dairy milk/products. I can still use goat and sheep products with no gut issues and no asthma issues.

Doctors don't believe this (even my pulmonary specialist doesn't really believe your asthma will go away if you stop eating/using all cow dairy products), but both myself and my husband have a casein allergy. We quit eating cow dairy, and we no longer have any issues with asthma (and our allergy issues have lessened considerably as well).

I have also changed my diet to treat my asthma and have seen dramatic results, though it takes longer than the prescribed drugs. I have found that, if I eat a whole-food diet with no dairy or processed foods, I never need to use my inhaler. I did all this experimenting myself without any advice from doctors. After a lifetime of increasing medications to control my symptoms, I was not a fan of modern medicine when I realized that years of suffering could have been avoided if the doctors who had treated me advised me or my mother that diet could help as much as it does. But the truth is that they just don't know, and they probably can't really say anyway because big pharma would lose a lot of money if people really knew how much the ball is in their court when it comes to treating one's health.